Golden Roses
by DJ Mcloud
Summary: While Yang struggles to cope with having her little sister as her leader, an old enemy rears its ugly head.
1. Academy Sisters

"I'm late, I'm late, crap I'm late!" Ruby skidded into the door as she hopped on one foot, struggling to get her uniform socks and shoes on as a piece of toast dangled out of her mouth. She had been up too late reading last night and had overslept, now she was paying the price. How she'd slept through Weiss and the others getting up she had no idea but even if she left now she'd likely be late. She opened the door only to run head-first into Yang and Weiss as they entered.

"Ack!" Ruby fell over and the piece of toast flew out of her mouth, landing directly on her face. Brushing the crumbs off of her, she looked up to her sister and her teammate, blinking softly. "You guys are gonna be late too, what the heck!? We have to get going!"

"Ruby… it's Saturday…" Weiss gave her a sarcastic stare.

"Oh… I knew that…" Ruby giggled nervously and stood up. "Guess I'll go get some breakfast then…"

Yang cleared her throat and shook her head. "You're not leaving here looking like that sis." She pulled the younger sibling close and adjusted her collar, making sure her skirt was flat and tucked in properly. Normally Yang wasn't the type to fuss over or coddle her sister but she did have something of a protective instinct for her when she got like this.

"Yaaaang… come on… I'm hungry… lemme go…" Ruby whined, this sort of thing happened often given that the two had very different tastes in clothing. Yang tended to dress for practicality with a hint of fashion while Ruby put o whatever she thought looked cool at the time despite Yang's chiding that her cape would get her into trouble one day.

Yang finished fixing her little sister up and patted her on the head like a good puppy and grinned. "Alright go ahead 'lil sis…" She chuckled as Ruby disappeared down the hall in a flash.

"What was that?" Weiss crossed her arms with a soft scowl.

"What was what?" Yang shrugged a bit and looked at her white-haired teammate.

"THAT." Weiss sad simply with a dismissive gesture. "Ruby's a big girl and you usually don't fuss over her like that. It's… kind of weird honestly."

"She's only fifteen." Yang shrugged. "And yeah I'd like for her to be able to sink or swim on her own but I still have to look out for her too. She is my sister after all."

"No." Weiss stuck her finger in Yang's face. "Look, I don't want you to think this is coming from a bad place but it's just something you need to hear. She's not just your sister anymore, she's your leader. I had trouble coping with it too but it's true. Ruby's the leader of this team. She's young, inexperienced and she got into this school the quick way unlike the rest of us, but like it or not she's our leader. If you keep treating her like a little sister you have to protect it's only going to hurt the team." She said sternly before sighing deeply. "Like I said I don't mean any disrespect, but she's not just your sister anymore…" She quickly walked past Yang through the doorway out of the room.

Yang clenched her fists, looking behind her and whispering. "I… know that… of courseI know that… right?"

* * *

Later that day the group of four girls met in the dining hall for lunch. Weiss and Yang sat on one side of the table silently while Ruby and Blake sat on the other. "Hey Blake…" Ruby whispered to the girl with her nose buried in a book. "Is it just me or is something going on? Yang's um… quiet. I'm not used to that."

Blake's yellow eyes scanned from the top of her book, spotting the other two girls quietly pecking at their food. "It's not just you." She said, somewhat muffled by her book. It was not unusual for Weiss to be somewhat quiet at meals occasionally but Yang was usually the loudest second only to Nora and possibly Ruby herself. Both girls could tell something was up with their teammates, especially Yang.

"So umm… Jaune's group is out and about today." Ruby said, trying to start up a conversation. "Jaune said he was going to train with Pyrrha and it's probably best not to ask what Nora and Ren are doing." The two girls remained silent, causing Ruby to chuckle nervously and act as if they had responded. "Yeah… I'm glad they're getting along though. That's always good for teammates and stuff, right?" More silence greeted her. "Yang? Anybody in there?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah…" Yang looked up briefly before looking back at her plate, pushing her fork back and forth absentmindedly, her lilac eyes dull and zoned out as she was lost in thought.

"I thought since we have the day off maybe we could do something like a team-building activity, go window-shopping, play soccer…" She noticed neither one was paying attention. "Get abducted by aliens, defend the town from giant killer strawberries… come on guys! What's going on?"

Weiss looked up quietly but didn't say anything, glancing away softly. She didn't intend for what she said to get to Yang so badly but she didn't regret saying it, she thought it really was something that she needed to hear.

"I…I'm sorry guys, I'm just a bit out of it today. I'll be back a bit later." Yang sighed, getting up from the table and heading out.

"I have some studying to do." Weiss said as she stood up soon after and left through the opposite exit.

"Guys…" Ruby slumped in her seat, putting her elbows on the table and sighing. "What are we gonna do Blake?"

"Clearly something's happened between the two of them. We'll help them work it out but I think they need some time to sort it out for themselves and cool down before we go intruding." She suggested.

"Yeah… I guess..." Ruby sighed deeply. "Still, I hate seeing them like this…"

* * *

Ruby sighed softly as she returned to the room a few hours later. Blake was outside curled up under a tree trying to finish her book and Weiss was at her desk, writing out a three page essay with what must have been no less than fifteen pages. "Weiss, do you have a minute?"

"Not really." Weiss said without even really looking backwards, focusing solely on writing.

"Let me rephrase that. You have a minute." Ruby said more sternly, sitting on the bed across from her teammate. "Do you know where Yang is?"

"Her bike's not in its usual spot, she probably went for a ride." Weiss said curtly without looking up from her paper.

Ruby gave a sigh of exasperation and decided to cut to the chase. "What's going on with you and Yang?"

"I didn't tell her anything she didn't need to hear." Weiss sighed and pushed her chair away from the desk, putting her writing implement behind her ear. "Everyone thinks I'm so harsh, and I'll admit I had my problems with being on this team at first, but I'm here now. Just because I'm working with you all and trust you doesn't mean that my goals have changed, I may want to excel on a team now but I still want to excel. I will do whatever it takes, so I'm going to call them as I see them."

"Weiss, whatever you said seems to have really gotten to Yang…" Ruby sighed again.

"Any problem she's having is with herself, not with me." Weiss huffed and stood up, doing a quick turn. "I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm a horrible person just because I say what needs to be said…" She walked out quickly, the sound of her heels angrily clacking down the hall filling the empty room.

Ruby groaned softly and flopped backwards on the bed. "We're supposed to be in this together…"

Around the corner Weiss sighed softly, pushing her back against the wall, laying her head back and giving a soft sound. "I just did what I thought was best… I didn't do anything wrong… I didn't… I didn't…" She slid down to sit on the floor, pulling her knees into her chest. "I didn't mean to hurt Yang…" She wrapped her arms around her ankles and gave a soft whimper. "This whole teamwork thing is new to me… what should I do?"

Yang revved the engine on her bike Bumblebee, her eyes piercing through her goggles focused straight ahead. She often took a ride on her motorcycle when she needed to clear her head but for some reason this time it wasn't helping. She was happy for Ruby becoming such a strong person, she was happy that she'd gotten into Beacon two years early, she was happy that her sister had become a leader, but at the same time she hadn't expected her to become HER leader.

She had worked hard to get into Beacon, she had even had a hand in training Ruby. It was just strange now to see Ruby get into the school she had entered two years early and as her superior no less now that they were all on a team. She'd always somewhat hoped she could work with her little sister but she hadn't be prepared for the possibility that said little sister might become the boss of her.

She'd tucked these feelings away in the back of her mind, hidden them behind bravado and jokes and confidence like she usually did. She was Yang the strong, flirty one, she had to let Weiss and Blake and even Ruby get the angst out of their systems so she couldn't ever show her doubts. First Weiss has thrown a hissy fit about Ruby being leader and Ruby's own doubts about leading the team, then the whole incident with finding out Blake was a Faunus, everyone else had their own things going on so she tucked her doubts away and kept moving to be strong for everyone. But now what Weiss had said made it real for her. She couldn't tuck it any farther.

She felt so conflicted, and she felt even more guilty because it should have been an easy answer. Of course she should be happy for her sister, but at the same time she had these nagging thoughts in the back of her head. She couldn't remove these lingering doubts. She clenched her gloved fingers on the throttle, speeding the bike up a bit and doing a quick U-turn, heading back towards the academy and leaving a trail of smoke in her wake.

* * *

Yang had arrived back at the room late that night and had fallen asleep soon after, not leaving a chance for Ruby or the others to talk to her. That was somewhat intentional on her part though she had also been out on her bike all day as well. However the next morning the group had been called out to do a little practice mission Ruby had signed them up for. It was a simple task, a small pack of Beowolves had been migrating a bit too close to the outskirts of town so they were to be taken out.

"Well this is nice, finally something we can do as a team." Ruby smiled and moved between Weiss and Yang. "Some teamwork is always helpful… because we're a team? Let's go team? Teeeeeeeeeam" She wrapped her arms around the two girls and tried to hug them together but their size kept them anchored, causing the girl to pout.

"Stop saying team, it's starting to sound weird." Blake glanced over to her with a small smile.

"I agree, I think we're in need of something to prove we're a team." Weiss nodded quietly, glancing over towards the still-silent Yang. "Lead the way Ruby."

Yang clenched her fists, she knew Weiss and Ruby meant well but emphasizing the team part of this was only bringing the doubts further forward in her mind. Soon they were faced with about a dozen Beowolves in a pack and the group readied their weapons before Yang stepped forward, Ember Celica covering her hands and forearms. Her face brimmed with anger as her thoughts raced through her head, her eyes turning red. "Leave this to me…"

"Umm… okay…" Ruby nodded softly, recognizing that look in her eyes and knowing it was unwise to get in her way when she got like this. "Sure Yang, go crazy…"

Yang dashed forward, delivering an uppercut to the nearest grimm wolf with a shotgun-like sound. Shockwaves appeared out of the ends of her fists as she punched and kicked her way through the horde of grimm. The air around her seemed almost to be lit aflame with her movements as she kicked a wolf back and punched two more into trees with her fists.

She slammed one's head into the ground and fired a shot from her gauntlet while it was pinned, practically crushing its skull. She jumped and flipped behind another, catching two more off-guard and breaking through the crowd with more shockwaves as the number of enemies steadily decreased. The blonde woman screamed in a fit of rage as she vented all of her frustration from the past day onto the animals, slamming them down and punching through their hides, scorch marks left on the ground and trees. She grabbed one's head and rammed it against her knee repeatedly until it fell over and stayed down. There was only one left now. As soon as the wolf realized he was alone he made a break for it. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Yang shouted as she chased down the wolf, jumping and landing on his back before punching down into him again and again with both gauntlets until black gunk was all that remained in the area of her fists.

The other three members of her team just stood there in awe, silent for a moment as Yang turned back around, walking back and heading towards the academy again, panting softly from the exercise. "Ummm… Yang? When I said 'go crazy' I didn't literally mean go crazy…" Ruby blinked.

Yang said nothing and the group went back to the academy in relative silence until Weiss stopped Yang in the hall. "Look… Yang… I know what I said bugged you, it's obvious that's what's bothering you lately and I wanted to say… well… I wanted to say… um… I'm… uh…"

"You don't have to apologize." Yang said simply.

"Oh thank god, I'm no good at it." Weiss gave a sigh of relief.

"You were right I've still been treating Ruby like my little sister instead of my leader. I want to be happy for her and I am but part of me can't get past seeing her as the little girl I helped raise and protect. The person I tried to be strong, it's a little rough to accept that maybe she's surpassed me… that maybe she doesn't need me anymore." Yang sighed. "I guess I've always wanted her to be strong and independent, I just wasn't ready to deal with the results when she came here and excelled."

"Yang… I…" Weiss's frost blue eyes softened a bit, she didn't know what to say to her. With her own family issues this kind of thing wasn't exactly her area of expertise.

"Don't worry, I'll figure out something." Yang gave a soft smirk and patted Weiss on the shoulder. "I'll find a way to protect Ruby in my own way." She walked past her and sauntered carefully down the halls.

Weiss turned and looked down at the floor, shaking her head a bit. "Yang…"

* * *

Yang's mind was still racing, still trying to sort everything out in her head but feeling quite a bit calmer after venting some frustration on the wolves and talking about it with Weiss. She was still somewhat troubled but she figured that she might as well get some normal things done to take her mind off of it for a bit so she could get her head clear. She headed down to the academy common area to check her mail and do some other routine daily tasks. Since it was Sunday there was no mail that day but she had been out all day yesterday and hadn't checked. There was nothing except an unmarked envelope that someone had clearly just stuck there instead of mailing it.

"Another confession note? When will these boys learn?" She gave an exasperated sigh as she took out the note and several photos fell out of it. She picked up the pictures and immediately her fingers gripped the letter tight. They were all pictures of Ruby around the academy: pictures of her at campus, sleeping in class, walking around and even in their room. Whoever had taken these was able to get dangerously close to her little sister and was showing clearly threatening intentions. She looked at the note the pictures were enclosed with. It was a simple letter with cut-out words like one would see in a clichéd crime movie.

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed… and they're still here." She read aloud, her fingers gripping the paper almost to the point of tearing it. At the bottom there was a symbol of a bear head and the epithet 'Baby Bear' scrawled into it. She crumpled up the note and threw it into the trash along with the pictures. She grabbed her goggles for her bike and headed off in a brisk walk that quickly turned into a run. Ruby was still with the others so she knew she was safe for now, but someone had threatened her. And that someone was going to pay dearly.


	2. The Way It's Always Been

Yang leaned forward on Bumblebee, urging the motorcycle to go faster as she revved the engine. She didn't really know where she was going at this point but she was too focused on what had just happened to care. This was probably just what HE wanted, to let her stew for a bit and run around in a blind rage aimlessly for a little while so the threat against Ruby would sink in before she came after him. Her mind raced, he had to know she would be after him after something like that. That had to be what he wanted, this was revenge, it was a trap. He wanted to lure her into something.

At the same time she couldn't just take that sitting down, if he wanted her attention, he had it. She swung the back end of her bike and slammed into the curb, leaving a trail of smoke in her wake. She was panting out of pure fury now, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She closed her eyes, she had no idea where he even was now, but she couldn't let him get away with threatening Ruby like that. It was time to hit the streets.

She wasn't sure how far she was from the academy at this point but despite not having many of her sources in the area Yang still knew a thing or two about extracting information. She sauntered down the sidewalk, glancing down alleyways and trying to collect her thoughts. Those that had what she needed wouldn't be out in the open, she had to inspect the areas carefully for someone that might know something. She had to track him down and make him pay, nobody hurt Ruby while she was around, that was how it had always been, and that was how it would stay.

* * *

"YAAAAAAAANG!" The young Ruby cried out as she held her scraped knee, a pair of boys standing over her with looks of confusion and horror mixed on their faces as they knew what was to come.

The preteen Yang smirked, appearing behind the boys and cracking her knuckles."What did you guys do to my little sister?" She draped her arms around both boys with a grin of murderous intent. "We gonna have a problem here?"

"It's the yellow girl, run!" One of the boys shouted. In the confusion the boys turned and ran into one another before falling flat on their asses and scrambling up, running away as fast as their feet would carry them.

"You okay 'lil sis?" Yang asked, kneeling down to her kid sister, cleaning off the scrape and putting a band-aid on it.

"Mhm, thanks Yang." Ruby perked up and hugged her big sister with a bright smile.

That was how it was for most of their early days, since Ruby wasn't the best at socializing Yang was for the most part all she had. Without her training and skills Ruby was often afraid of the world around her and as such it fell on Yang to protect her.

"YANG!" Ruby shouted, her back against a tree as a Beowolf towered over her.

"RUBY! GET DOWN!" Yang shouted, Ember Celica popping out from her wrists. She punched the grimm hard in the snout, sending it flying. It crashed to the ground and the blonde-haired girl cocked her shot gauntlets, punching and firing several times. The wolf jumped to dodge but was eventually caught and pinned down as Yang unloaded several rounds into it.

She knelt down and wrapped her arms tightly around Ruby, scooping the young girl up and holding her close. "Are you alright Ruby?"

"Where were you Yang…?" Ruby sobbed. "The wolves… the wolves were the ones that killed m-mo…"

"It's alright Ruby. I'm here now, you're safe. You don't need to be afraid of the wolves. You're stronger than they are, you're smarter than they are. Don't be afraid of the creatures of the dark." Her lilac eyes connected with Ruby's pale silver ones. "I'm going to teach you how to fight and we'll take you to Uncle Qrow, okay?"

From then on Ruby began training to learn how to fight and defend herself. Qrow taught her the way of the scythe and Yang gave her more practical hands-on lessons. The two faced down two Ursa, Yang hanging back to watch Ruby's progress.

"Alright, remember what I taught you, use your speed and keep your stance solid. Go for the neck, a Grimm's mask is strong like metal but their necks are usually a good spot for one hit kills." Yang instructed, crossing her arms to observe carefully.

Ruby nodded softly, focusing her silver eyes on the two grimm in front of her and unfolding Crescent Rose, dashing forward quickly and leaving a flurry of rose petals in her place. She swung her scythe towards one of the bears, which blocked it with the armor-like bone plating on its arms. Using her speed Ruby quickly ducked and slashed the bear across its belly before disappearing, getting out of the way before the other slammed its paw right where she was standing.

The small girl spun her large scythe again, hopping off a branch and back down, passing by the first bear and keeping the arc of her scythe behind her. The blade passed by the Ursa's neck and a loud shotgun sound was heard as with great force the crescent came down and decapitated the bear-like grimm. Ruby smirked as the monster fell over and she nodded to her weapon. "Good job sweetheart." She patted the High Caliber Sniper Scythe.

"Ruby look out!" Yang shouted from the sidelines, getting ready to step in as the second Ursa towered over the small girl. Ruby smirked, firing Crescent Rose to the side and propelling herself with great speed out of the monster's reach. "Wow… she's using the recoil to enhance her speed… I don't know if even I'd be able to keep up with her at that speed…" Yang smirked as she observed.

Ruby dodged strikes from the Ursa and moved out of the way, firing again and again into the beast and cleaving into its body, leaving a deep gash and causing it to fall to the ground with a loud thud. The small girl turned to Yang and grinned, folding up Crescent Rose and jumping on her heels. "I did it!"

Yang gave her a thumbs up. "Good job!" Her purple eyes widened quickly as the Ursa got up again and before she could say anything aimed its claw at the unsuspecting Ruby. The blonde woman dove forward and tackled Ruby to the ground, strands of blonde hair floating in the air showing how close the bear was to clawing into her. "YOU BASTARD!" Yang's eyes turned red and with an aura of fire around her she slammed her first into the Ursa hard and decimated its torso with a large scorch mark.

Yang flipped her hair and gave a light sigh as her eyes returned to normal. "Keep your paws off my sister…"

"Yang… are you okay? I'm sorry, I let my guard down…" Ruby slumped a bit, hanging her head softly.

Yang smiled softly and hugged her little sister tight just like that day in the forest when she fought the Beowolves. "I'm fine… That was a close one…"

Ruby was pulled over Yang's shoulder from the tight hug and gasped as she looked at a large clump missing from Yang's blonde locks where the Ursa had narrowly missed her. "Yang… your hair… you love your hair…"

Yang smiled more, tears forming in her eyes as she tightened the hug. "It's just hair… it'll grow back…" She sniffled lightly. "What matters is you're safe."

Once the two settled down a bit Ruby brushed through Yang's hair gently. "Here, sit down here, I'll fix it for you." She patted a stump and let Yang sit down so she could brush through her hair and work around the missing clump. "Your hair is so pretty… you should be careful not to get it so messed up when you're fighting." She said as she combed through her golden locks.

"You like it huh?" Yang grinned as she looked back towards Ruby, drying her eyes from earlier and raising a fist. "In that case, if anyone messes with it, I'll just kick their ass even harder!"

"…I don't think it works that way."

That was how it had been when they were kids, Yang was the strong one and Ruby's mentor, always looking out for her. She was the one that had swarms of friends while Ruby preferred to keep to herself and stick close to Yang. All her life Ruby had looked to Yang for guidance and now it was Yang looking up to Ruby. Still, she had to do something to protect her little sister as she always had done.

* * *

Yang shook her head softly, trying to get herself out of memory lane as she scanned the streets for clues. She had to keep her eyes sharp and stay focused on the lookout for anything suspicious, information wasn't just going to jump out at her.

She wandered around alleyways for quite some time and the smell of strong drinks and even stronger foulness brought her to a shady-looking bar. Her lips curled into a soft smile. "Perfect."

As she entered the room she felt the men's eyes drawn to her, a familiar feeling by this point but she paid it no mind. However her hand was forced when she felt a hand move dangerously close to her rump. With lightning reflexes and grabbed the man's wrist and flipped him over her head and onto the pool table. "Let's keep our hands to ourselves, I'm in no mood today, kay?" She gave a cheery smile and suddenly had a great deal more room at the bar.

She spotted a group of men in familiar uniforms coming out of the bathroom in a herd. She was quite lucky today after all, they had to know something. She followed them out the back door into the alley, focused on her goal.

* * *

Ruby looked around and sighed softly, shaking her head. She quickly went through the halls and checked the common room, empty besides a couple flirting in the corner. The classrooms were locked off, there weren't many people outside today, where could she be? She went back to the room and sighed as she plopped onto the bed. It seemed Weiss was out as well, probably at the library but Ruby knew there was no point in looking for Yang there.

Blake stirred a bit as she lay in her bed curled up with her book. She glanced across the way and saw Ruby in the opposite top bunk and looked up to see Weiss's bottom bunk and Yang's top bunk empty. "Huh… so it isn't night yet…" She blinked. "Usually when I read like this I kind of zone out until nighttime." She shrugged and looked over at Ruby again, spotting her forlorn expression. "What's wrong Ruby?"

"Do you know where Yang is? She disappeared again. I talked with Weiss but I can't get Yang to open up. Of all people I never thought she'd shut me out."

"She is rather upfront. She doesn't seem like the type to keep secrets for no reason." Blake nodded affirmatively.

"She's the most open person I know…" Ruby's silver eyes glanced at a picture folded and pinned to the post of her bed. The picture was of her and Yang a few years ago, Ruby stretched her mouth out to make a funny face while Yang gave a wide grin and put bunny ears behind her sister's head. Yang had told her that she should keep that picture close to remember her whenever she was away. "…and she's my sister…" She sighed and leaned back on the bed.

Blake looked over her leader for a moment before snapping her book shut and standing up. "Let's go find her then."

"Huh?" Ruby blinked. "But she's nowhere on campus, she could be anywhere!"

"You guys went looking for me when I disappeared into the city, right? Besides, if it's that important to you, we should find her. I'll go find Weiss and we'll head off. A leader has to take on the burden of all her teammates, but teammates should help to ease the burden of their leader, right?" She extended a hand to Ruby with a small smile.

Ruby looked up at Blake and smiled softly, nodding and taking her hand. "Yeah… thanks Blake."

* * *

"Well hello there." The group of men she followed out of the bar circled around Yang like vultures. Their eyes traveled up and down her slender figure with lust filled intentions. "What are you doing in this part of town, honey?" Another asked with a devious smirk.

"Oh you boys." Yang brushed them off with a lighthearted giggle, playing the part of the ditzy blonde as she cocked her hips. "Do you guys know where a girl looking for a man can do?" She smiled.

"If you're looking for a man I think we can help you." One of the men chuckled as they moved closer to her.

"How… flattering, but I'm looking for a specific man." She gave a childlike giggle.

The man pressed against her from behind. "Oh? I bet he does have anything I haven't got."

Yang dropped the façade and sighed, her eyes going form innocent and bubbly to dull and annoyed. "This is getting us nowhere." She snapped out Ember Celica and punched the man behind her in the stomach, firing one shot forward and knocking out the one still staring at her chest before the others grabbed their weapons. She blocked a sword with her armored wrist and punched the wielder away, disarming a few others with a kick or two. She jumped to the side to avoid a shotgun blast and fired a flurry of punching shots to take the rest down. "Gotta leave one Yang…" She reminded herself, spotting one indeed getting up and trying to run away. "Oh no you don't!" She shouted, hopping over the unconscious men and using her forearm to slam the runner into the brick wall. "Tell me where he is!"

"W-Who!?" The terrified man shouted, squirming in the hold.

"JUNIOR! Junior Xiong! I recognize those uniforms, I know you're with him! I want to know where he is, NOW!" She roared.

"Lady, I don't have any idea what you're talking about!" The man cried out.

Yang punched the wall behind him, firing a large shockwave as her fist came into contact with the wall, leaving a large crack in the otherwise sturdy wall. "Now imagine what that'll do to your nads. NOW TALK!"

"Alright, alright! He lost the club and has moved into the city, he's using the old shopping mall as his new base!" The man whimpered out and struggled against Yang's grip.

"Good boy, I'll make this quick then…" She raised her fist towards the man.

"AAH! NO!" The man shouted, feeling the fist come closer and closer before Ember Celica deactivated and Yang flicked his nose.

"Get out of my sight…" Yang sighed.

The man looked down and saw a dark stain on the front of his pants. He decided it was best not to try his luck by sticking around and left his buddies, taking off with his tail between his legs and likely to get some new pants.

Yang quickly exited the alleyway, heading back to where her Bumblebee was and mounting the motorcycle, quickly taking off down the street. "I'm coming Junior… and you're going to PAY!"

* * *

It was nearly sunset by the time Yang pulled up to the old shopping center, looking over the large building with caged-off shops and abandoned circles. She spotted some activity in the shadows of the halls and headed that way, smirking as she came across a few henchmen dressed in Junior's uniform. "Hey there, mind if I come in?" She grinned, walking past them.

"Hey, where do you think you're going!?" One grabbed her shoulder, only for her grin to widen. She stopped, clocking one in the side of the head and kneeing the other in the stomach, dropping them both.

"You must be new, I've kicked all your asses before." Yang bent down to taunt them before standing up and running into the complex.

"Shit, it's the blonde chick again!" She heard one of the henchmen shout from a balcony above her. The men grabbed their guns and started shooting into the walkway.

Yang chuckled and dove under the balcony to avoid the shots. "Finally someone who recognizes me. Good, let Junior know I'm coming, I want him to be good and scared." She activated Ember Celica and began to move. She dashed down the corridor, zigzagging between the columns and the thin patrol of guards as she came to a large door that led to one of the bigger shops at the end of the shopping area. Yang punched hard, the shockwave from her gauntlet blowing open the pair of large doors and sending them flying across the room. "JUNIOR!"

A tall man with a black beard and mustache turned and dismissed his subordinates as he looked at Yang, cracking his knuckles with a smirk. "Make sure we're not disturbed." He told the henchmen before turning back to Yang. "I knew you'd come."

"Well I'm here now, aren't I?" Yang loaded more bullets into her gauntlets, putting her arms at her sides and narrowing her eyes. "You've got some explaining to do…"


End file.
